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Europe, regulation, margin squeeze, market volatility, succession planning and … oh yes, the day-to-day pressures of running a business. We tick the list off so often, it’s getting a bit cliché. But as with last year, we’re not much further along in figuring out these issues. Lawsuits related to Medical Capital and other poorly thought-out products spelled trouble for certain broker-dealers last year, and a few shut their doors entirely. The field is a little less crowded, but for those doing it right, the confusion spells opportunity. With all that in mind, which broker-dealers are thriving, which are merely surviving and which are shutting their doors?

Investment Advisor magazine releases its 2012 Broker-Dealer Reference Guide, a review of the top 25 BDs in five major categories using numbers through 2011 to help you sort it all out and ensure a lasting and profitable relationship for you and your clients. All data is as of April 1, 2012, and was supplied by the broker-dealers themselves. (Investment Advisor has not independently confirmed the data.)

When IA asked about the issues broker-dealer presidents felt were the most challenging to their business, more than half of respondents replied with margin squeeze, more than triple the next answer, which was (once again) keeping technology up to date. It’s a perennial problem and one that shows little promise of being solved anytime soon (at least not until boomer retirement is in full swing).

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